Oil painting, 'A Man Seen from Behind', Luca Carlevarijs, ca. 1700-ca. 1710

Oil sketch of man , perhaps a gondolier, seen from behind. The figure is shown wearing blue pantaloons with a matching jacket draped over his left shoulder.

Purchased from the funds of Captain H. B. Murray's bequest.

Purchased, 1938

Historical significance: The study shows a man, perhaps a gondolier, from behind. The figure wears blue tights and pantaloons with a matching jacket, which is slung over his left shoulder. The pantaloons and jacket are decorated with gold braid. On his head is a cap of blue with a white band. It is one of Carlevarijs' studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented.

This figure reappears in a number of paintings by the view painter. For example he is shown in the centre foreground, standing in the boat in front of that carrying Frederick IV of Denmark inThe Regatta on the Grand Canal in Honour of Frederick IV, King of Denmark and Norway, 4 March 1709 now in the John Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (inv. 86.PA.599). The figure also occurs in Riva degli Schiavone verso la Piazzetta (Lehman Collection, New York) and Piazza San Marco (Kiplin Hall). Carlevarijs' sketches also demonstrate his great influence on Canaletto, whose figures and their arrangement often show a marked debt to the older Master such as in Venice: The Feast Day of Saint Roch ca. 1735 (National Gallery, London, NG937).

This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. The figures and objects appear frequently and virtually without variations in his paintings between 1707 and 1726 and are closely related to his etchings of 1703 in Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia. Composed of 104 views of Venice, the etchings formed the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. Carlevarijs' sketches reveal a particular attention to costume, highlighting Venetian style of dress which was highly regarded in fashionable circles throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th centuries. The maritime republic imported raw materials from the Far East and exported finished products including highly desirable velvets and brocades. The taste for Venetian textiles persisted into the 18th century. In this period however, Venice's power was dwindling and her government corrupt. The city nevertheless sought to present a facade of a wealthy city peopled with bright and gregarious multitude engaged in pleasurable pursuits. As Carlevarijs stated in the dedication to Le fabriche, he intended his paintings to 'rendere più facile alla notitzia de Paesi stranieri le Venete Magnificenze' [render more clearly the magnificence of Venice to foreign countries]

P.66-1938